Questions about Sasquatch Mountain
We are into our third winter season at Sasquatch Mountain Resort (SMR). In late 2020, we achieved a lifelong goal when we purchased a ski cabin. If you follow us on social media, you’ve likely seen photos and videos from our time at Sasquatch.
Because we’re up at the ski resort almost every weekend, we receive a lot of questions about Sasquatch Mountain. It’s not as well known as other British Columbia ski resorts, so it’s understandable that people have questions. And, recently, we’ve received an increase in questions since the announcement that the Sasquatch Mountain expansion plan is progressing forward.
In today’s post, we will answer the most common questions we get about Sasquatch Mountain Resort.
For more information about the mountain, read this post about everything you need to know about Sasquatch Mountain. We wrote this post after our first time visiting the ski resort about 4 years.
What is there to do at Sasquatch Mountain Resort in the winter?
In the winter, the most popular activity at Sasquatch Mountain is skiing and snowboarding. Night skiing is open on Friday and Saturday nights.
The mountain also has snow tubing on the weekends, snowshoeing trails, and snow shoe tours.
If you don’t own your own equipment, you can rent skis, snowboards, and snowshoes from the main lodge.
Related post – Snow tubing at Sasquatch Mountain Resort
What is there to do in the summer at Sasquatch Mountain Resort (SMR)?
In the summer, Sasquatch Mountain has hiking trails around the village. It’s also very popular to ride ATV’s, Side-by-sides and dirt bikes on the old logging roads near the village.
Sasquatch has plans to build an Aerial Rope Course. Initially SMR planned to open the Aerial park in the summer of 2022 but ran into delays. We understand the plan is to open in the summer of 2023. This is a first step in the mountain bringing new activities for both Winter and Summer and another step towards the Sasquatch Mountain expansion plan.
How are the chair lift wait times at Sasquatch Mountain Resort?
Over the past few years, the mountain has chosen to limit tickets to ensure lift lines are fast. We rarely have no wait for lifts. On busy days, like weekends or holidays, we might wait 5-10 minutes. But that doesn’t happen often.
Typically, if lift lines are longer than a few minutes, it’s because a chair lift has to be closed due to weather (normally high wind).
It’s always a good idea to check the ski resort’s social media channels for updates before heading up the mountain.
Can you rent a cabin at Sasquatch Mountain Resort? And if so, where is the best place to stay at Sasquatch Mountain?
Yes, there lots of cabins and vacation apartments to rent on Sasquatch Mountain. These cabins make Sasquatch Mountain Resort unique as it’s the only local mountain in the Lower Mainland (aside from Whistler) that you can stay overnight within walking distance to the lodge and chair lifts.
You can make reservations at SnowFlake Resorts, Hemlock Hollow and through private AirB&B rentals. Many of the units have private hot tubs.
If you wish to stay close by but not on the mountain, Rowena’s on the water is at Sandpiper Golf Course. There’s also Sasquatch INN which is located at the turn off of Lougheed Highway.
Are the accommodations ski in and ski out at Sasquatch Mountain?
Yes, some of the accommodations are ski in and ski out. The condo buildings that are located by the green chair are ski and ski out. And many of the cabins and townhomes found along Snowflake Crescent are very close to being ski in and ski out, depending on the snow.
The upper part of Sakwi Creek Road is ski in and ski out, however you’ll want to be comfortable with coming on and off a black diamond run.
If you can’t ski in and out, it’s only a short walk to the blue chair (the Yeti Cruiser) from Snowflake Crescent. In other parts of the village, guests and owners drive and park at the free parking lots by the lodge.
Does Sasquatch Mountain get a lot of snow in the winter?
The snow at Sasquatch Mountain over the past few years has been amazing. Owners hire locals with tractors to come and help clear the driveways because Sasquatch gets so much snow.
The most accurate way to track the mountain weather is using the Snow Forecast snow report here.
Are there restaurants at Sasquatch Mountain?
Yes, there are a few places to eat at Sasquatch Mountain Resort.
Molly Hogan’s Bar and Grill, often referred to as Molly’s, is the local pub and is open in the winter. It also opens on weekends in the summer. It’s a fun place to grab a beer and watch a game. It’s kid friendly until 8:00 PM each day.
The Chalet is open daily until 4:00 PM. It’s been converted to a sit down restaurant where the staff will come and serve you. It offers both breakfast and lunch options.
The Hideaway has coffee and sandwiches for an easy grab and go. It’s also a great place to grab a beer or seltzer to take outside on a sunny day.
Peaks is another food option located outside near the parking lot. It offers a number of grab and go hot meals.
In the village there’s a small convenience store called Hemlock Hollow General store. It has basic goods like milk, bread, chips, etc. It is found on Mt. Downing road.
And the most recent addition is the Grizzly Den which offers coffee and food and is found in the village on Mount Keenan Road.
Above is the inside of Molly’s. It’s rarely this quiet. We captured this photo mid-week.
Does Sasquatch Mountain host special events?
Yes, from time to time Sasquatch Mountain Resort hosts events. One of the most popular events is the New Year’s fireworks. The mountain puts on a spectacular show that lasts 10-15 minutes. What we like about the fireworks is that they start at 9 PM which is perfect for families. Most people gather next to the main lodge and the fireworks are set off near the beginner magic carpet.
Is Sasquatch Mountain Resort the same as Hemlock Valley?
Sasquatch Mountain Resort was formally known as Hemlock Valley Resort.
In 2006 the Berezan Group purchased the mountain and started on a development plan to extensively expand the mountain and activities “To be a unique cutting edge, four season mountain resort, catering to local, regional and destination guests, in a dynamic fashion, offering an easily accessible refuge and escape from the City.”
Changing the name was one of the first steps in the redevelopment of Sasquatch Mountain Resort. You can check out the development plan HERE.
Why did we choose to make Sasquatch our ‘home away from home’?
We love spending time in the mountains and there’s something special about Sasquatch Mountain. It has a community of people who live on the mountain full time and those (like us) who come up for the weekends.
In the Spring and Fall we enjoy having fires (when there’s no fire ban) with our neighbours. In the winter, the kids spend time at Ski Club, which means parents can go skiing together. Our boys have a made a lot of new friends because of the Ski Club.
When we are at Sasquatch Mountain we feel a million miles away from the city. It’s our quiet getaway. We look forward to coming up to our cabin on the weekends. It only takes us a few hours to get there, so it’s easy to leave on Friday after work and return on Sunday evening.
I’m thinking about purchasing at Sasquatch Mountain Resort. Why did you buy there?
We had been thinking about a vacation property for a long time but couldn’t decide where to buy. One day when we were online we found our cabin and that was the point when we really started to consider buying at Sasquatch Mountain.
We wrote a story about buying at Sasquatch Mountain. You can read more HERE.
Properties are now a very hot commodity at Sasquatch Mountain Resort. Our little mountain is not so secret anymore, so if you are interested in purchasing a property we suggest that you get all your financing lined up so if you find a place you like you can put in a quick offer.
If you buy a lot and want to build, we suggest you contact Lacey Construction. Lacey helped with our renovations and they have a number of cabin builds on the go at Sasquatch. We found it very helpful that they are familiar with building at Sasquatch and know the area well.
How is the road up to Sasquatch Mountain Resort?
Some days the road is perfect and other days you might encounter a lot of pot holes. It depends on the weather and how well the Emil Anderson crews have been able keep up with the road.
The road is NOT paved the whole way up. The province did some work on the road in 2021 and re-paved the entire older paved section. The new paved road is a really nice drive now. However, about 75% of the way is still a gravel road (approximately 20 minutes of driving time).
You MUST carry chains on your way up to Sasquatch in the winter. It doesn’t matter if you have winter tires, you still need to carry chains. In our time coming up to the mountain, we have only needed chains a handful of times and it was only when we got into the village.
The road is not owned by the mountain. It’s is owned by the province. The road is the number one complaint towards the mountain.
Is buying a season’s pass worth it if I don’t own a place?
Yes. Before owning here, we always found buying a season’s pass worth it. You don’t need to come up skiing every weekend to find value and we like the flexibility of having a seasons pass. It means we can ski and snowboard whenever we like (there’s no need to pre-book your day) and you can also take advantage of reciprocal benefits when available. When you have a seasons pass you can also ski both day and night.
With kids, it’s really nice not having the pressure of having to get a full day of skiing in. If the weather isn’t great or we are having a lazy weekend day, we don’t feel guilty about calling it a day at lunch. Everyone has a more pleasant experience.
Sasquatch uses an RFID card system which makes it easy to load your passes. If you have an RFID card once you purchase your day pass online, your pass for the day automatically loads and you don’t need to bother getting any tickets.
You can also easily upload tubing ticket and snowshoeing tickets to the same RFID card. Gone are the days of paper passes – thankfully!
Is there other attractions close to Sasquatch Mountain Resort?
Near Sasquatch Mountain you can find the Sandpiper Golf Course an award winning 18 hole course and Rowena’s on the Water which offers cabins for accommodations. If you’re looking for a place to eat, the Sandpiper Golf Course has a nice clubhouse restaurant.
Harrison Hot Springs is a 45-minute drive from Sasquatch Mountain. You will find lots of restaurants and a nice lake for swimming. Read about Things to do at Harrison Hot Springs.
Also, Weaver Lake is at the base of the hill and offers a stocked lake for fishing. And another popular summer activity close by is Sturgeon and Salmon fishing along the Fraser River.
Read more posts from British Columbia:
- Things to do at Harrison Hot Springs this summer
- The Best Road Trip from Vancouver for first time visitors
- The best things to do in Victoria right now
- 20 Things to do in Whistler this Summer
- The Best Things to do Along the Sea to Sky Highway
What did we miss? Do you have more questions about Sasquatch Mountain?
Leave a comment below with your question. We’ll do our best to answer.
I would just like to say I am a local, I learned to snowboard on this mountain, I’ve taught my daughter’s to ski on this mountain. My friends and I have been going here for well over 20 years.
Nobody that I’ve talked to that is a local is happy about this. They’ve already raised there rates past those of high end ski resorts. I feel that we won’t be able to afford to ski in our on back yard anymore. hemlock was for the locals, but Sasquatch is a SellOut!!